Gayton McKenzie Claps Back Against ‘Afrophobe Bigot’ Label: “I Fight Back Against Bullies Like You”
- A popular opinion piece has taken a swooping swipe at Sport, Recreation, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie
- TimesLIVE named McKenzie "Mampara of the Week" in its latest column published on Sunday, 4 August
- McKenzie did not take the shade lying down as he fashioned a sharp response to the amusement of locals online
Source: Getty Images
Gayton McKenzie has concocted a classic sharp response after unwittingly becoming the target of vicious trolling.
South Africa's Sports, Recreation, Arts, and Culture Minister has become popular for his unfiltered and often controversial remarks.
Gayton McKenzie claps back against label
This is outside of the humorous image McKenzie has fashioned as a former convict who became a motivational speaker now-turned-politician.
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McKenzie, for what it's worth, has emerged as a popular politician publicly, despite at times taking flak for his misguided remarks.
His commentary last week on Miss South Africa (SA) 2024 finalist Chidimma Onwe Adetshina's nationality was received as having a xenophobic undertone.
Naturally, he refuted the accusations in subsequent interviews with journalists, emphasising the importance of asking questions.
"I am waiting for answers. But they say it's xenophobic when you ask the question. How can it be xenophobic? We must ask questions!" he said.
However, that rant was the catalyst for a scathing swipe at him by a well-known opinion piece.
McKenzie was named TimesLIVE's "Mampara of the Week" in the latest column published on Sunday, 4 August.
Featuring a picture of McKenzie dressed in a suit and looking poker-faced while sitting in his chair during an event, a post on the @TimesLIVE X page read:
"We all know that Gayton McKenzie is an Afrophobe bigot who campaigns on his hatred for immigrant Africans. It is a strategy that has worked as it took him to parliament — but it is also a stance that will make him a regular in this column. His backward mentality has no place in government."
Searing. And, if McKenzie's clapback is to judge, though illustrating assertiveness, the prologue to the column struck a chord.
Taking to his official @GaytonMcK, he responded critically:
"For many years, you have shamed and bullied politicians with this 'Mampara' nonsense. I am different, and I fight back against bullies like you. You wanna shame us for wanting answers. How is it going in [the] comments section?"
Column swipe humours netizens
His hilarious comments section rebuttal translated to his mentions turning into a cauldron of activity as vocal netizens lined up to express their strong views on the criticism against him and his subsequent response.
Briefly News scanned the responses, putting the noise on blast after McKenzie's post garnered 301,000 views, 4600 likes, over 600 reposts and almost 400 comments nearly 12 hours after he published it.
@Boowa7 wrote:
"In the comments section, SA patriots dealt with this scam. Actually, we need to unfollow this k*k."
@ADS_ZAR said:
"[The] Department of Labour must check how many illegal immigrants are employed there. There is too much smoke in these media houses."
@MalumeScottt added:
"I've longed for a politician like Lord Gayton. Bro will stand on business and doesn't take k*k from anyone."
McKenzie calls out DA Federal chair Helen Zille
In recent related news, Briefly News reported that Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille caused quite a stir with her punctuated remarks at a public gathering.
Zille's choice of words at a community dialogue — including labelling the GNU "arrangement" as an ANC-DA coalition — spurred McKenzie to fashion a sharp, unsolicited response on Thursday.
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Source: Briefly News
